Word: copyright
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...primary function, taping TV shows off the air, has opened a new kind of Pandora's box. In 1976 two of the biggest movie production companies filed suit, charging Sony Corp., the first firm to market VTRs in the U.S., some of its retailers and others, with copyright infringement, interference with the sale of recorded programs to broadcasters and "unjust enrichment." They demanded that Sony stop manufacturing and distributing its Betamax VTR or, alternatively, modify the machine so that it would not record copyrighted material...
Sony based its defense on the argument that copyright law permits home recording and that the "privacies of life" must be protected from government intrusion. In the words of the company's general counsel, Ira Gomberg, "A consumer has the right to do what he wants in his own home. If he wants to watch the 6 o'clock news at 10 o'clock, he has that right." That was Judge Ferguson's view too. "There is no way, nor should there be," he said, "for plaintiffs to limit the availability of alternatives to television viewing...
...years, is now a fallen woman. Or at least about eight months pregnant, judging from an advertisement promoting maternity fashions in Chicago. Quick to defend her honor, United Feature Syndicate, which distributes the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles Schulz, has sued Maternity Shop Owner Bernard Poticha. Charging copyright infringement and unfair trade practices, the lawsuit demands that Poticha stop using the ad and seeks $50,000 damages. Lucy "has been consistently and continuously portrayed ... as a young, unmarried girl," says the complaint. To portray her as pregnant is "degrading and offensive ... and tends to destroy the wholesome image...
...operator will be able to add programs from stations in Indianapolis, Sioux City, Iowa, and several other points. Moreover, it will not need to get the consent of, or make any payment to, the broadcaster whose signal it picks up, though the cable operator will have to pay small copyright fees to the owner of the program. Broadcasters are sure to make an angry challenge of this aspect of the proposed FCC ruling in Congress. Quite as important as the effect of the proposed ruling is the shift in FCC philosophy that it indicates. The FCC had always been eager...
...complaints of American actors and producers that the British are taking over seem perversely petty. "Because they study Shakespeare at an early age and practice their craft, English actors are better suited to do Shakespeare," Messina argues. "Besides, the plays are there. There's no copyright. If the Americans want to do Shakespeare, then why don't they?" Good question. - Gerald Clarke